Tiger Stripes
by islandlover
Summary: Short One-shot placed after 3x02. Maura feels self-conscious about her scar and Jane makes her feel better. It just randomly came to me and I was in the mood to write. Review and tell me what you think :p


**Hey guys, so random one-shot here. Placed after 3x02**

**Lemme know what you think.**

It was a hot and humid summer day in Boston. Jane and Maura had both been called to a crime seen on the far side of town and had each arrived separately, which was rare since they were almost constantly together.

Jane was already standing over the body shouting directions at uniformed officers and asking Frost to get statements when Maura pulled up and stepped out of her car, medical bag in hand.

At the sound of her heels clicking dully with the concrete Jane turned around to see her friend.

"Maura what are you wearing? It's like 300 degrees out here!" Jane whined as her best friend approached wearing long slacks and a thick blazer.

"Jane, you are wearing almost as much as I am. Also it would be highly impossible for the atmosphere to reach that high of a temperature anywhere on earth."

It was true, Jane was wearing her usual long work pants, but had removed her blazer in an attempt to cool herself down

"OK doctor smartypants, but I _have _to wear this to work every day. You wear dresses and skirts and other considerably cooler outfits all the time! Or you used to." It was at this moment that Jane realized that it had been a long time since Maura had worn anything other than long pants to work, which was strange seeing as Maura was a devout fashionista.

"Well maybe I just needed a change of pace," Maura answered dryly as she crouched down in front of the body, "and I'm not even that hot, as a matter of fact I'm quite comfortable."

Two things told Jane that she was lying. First, she could see sweat glistening on Maura's hairline and down her face, and second, slowly but surely small hives began creeping up the woman's neck and chest

"Maura, when are gonna stop trying to lie to me?" Jane laughed "what's up with you lately?"

But Maura was suddenly in no laughing mood. She stood up, quickly wiped the sweat from her brow, and turned to one of the crime scene techs standing near by. "Have the body sent to my morgue, I will examine him further when he's on my table," and she turned towards her car.

"Maur! Where are you going?" No answer, Maura just kept walking.

"Dammit." Jane said to herself. She turned to Frost and asked if he could finish up here, she needed to follow Maura and fix whatever she had messed up. He agreed and she shot towards her car and followed Maura's BMW all the way to the precinct.

* * *

It took her a little longer than it too Maura to get there and by the time she arrived the morgue the blonde was already sitting at her desk tackling a pile of paper work as she waited for her most recent body to arrive.

"Maura, what happened back there?" Jane huffed. She had practically ran the whole way there.

"Nothing Jane, lets just drop it." She responded, never taking her eyes off the file in her hands.

"Ok, here's the deal," Jane started as she sat down in Maura's incredibly uncomfortable office chair. "We can't drop it because you're hurt, and it's because of something I said. An I'm gonna feel like crap if I can't make it up to you for hurting your feelings."

Maura looked up at the detective and saw a sympathetic smile on her lips, and honesty in here eyes.

"You didn't hurt my feelings, Jane. You just touched...a rather sensitive subject is all." Maura said quietly

Jane said nothing, but waited for her to continue. When Maura realized Jane was waiting for her to elaborate she sighed and stood up. She walked over to the office door, closed it and locked it. Then went to the window and snapped the blinds shut.

"Uh...Maur? What are you doing?" Jane inquired with a suspicious look on her face.

Maura turned back to her best friend and looked her straight in the eyes. Chocolate brown meeting hazel.

"Ok, I realize this may be an irrational and selfish worry, especially to you. But..." Maura trailed off. Instead of finishing her sentence she put her high-heeled foot up on her coffee table and began rolling up her left pant leg.

Jane just stared at her in confusion. Then suddenly her eyes turned soft as she realized where Maura was going with this.

She had rolled her pant leg up to just under her knee, exposing a long pink scar running along the side of her calf.

"I didn't get as lucky with this one," Maura explained. She gestures up to her neck where another, considerably smaller, scar sat. This one was much less noticeable. "The scar I got from Hoyt seems to have healed up nicer than this one," she pointed the her leg "and I suddenly feel extremely self-conscious about it." She was embarrassed. It was stupid to be self-conscious about a scar that had saved her life, but she was. She really, really was.

Jane held her gaze for a long moment, then slowly began unbuttoning her shirt from the bottom up.

Now it was Maura's turn to look confused. Jane stopped unbuttoning just below her breasts and pushed aside the fabric of her shirt, exposing a large vertical scar of her own.

"Maura, your scar is nothing to be embarrassed about, it's the reason you're alive! I did a pretty damn good job if I do say so my self" She added, arching her eyebrows to lighten the mood. Maura gave a soft chuckle and Jane continued. "At least you didn't give that scar to yourself, I got no one to blame but myself for this one."

She paused, and then lifted up her hands. Exposing the crescent moon shaped marks in the center of her palms. "Now, these? These are my battle scars. They remind me everyday that I am stronger than those who try to break me. Your scar is the same. You were strong enough, and smart enough to explain to me how to fix you when you couldn't do it yourself. It's not an ugly reminder of an incident, or an embarrassing memory, you're a tiger whose earned her goddamn stripes." Jane smiled widely and Maura couldn't help but reciprocate.

Jane then wrapped her arms around the smaller woman and pulled her into a hug. Maura responded and wrapped her own arms around Jane's neck.

"Thank you, Jane. I don't know how you do it, but you constantly make me feel better in every aspect of my life" Maura whispered into her hair.

Jane gave a light laugh, "what are best friends for".

**Yea, I don't know it was just something that came to me.**


End file.
